<h3>Senior Slumber</h3>
Put all those stereotypes about seniors crawling under the covers at dusk and puttering around the house drinking warm milk in the middle of the night to rest. Most members of the Social Security set get plenty of ZZZs and manage to sleep through the night just fine thank you, according to new research.
It’s been a commonly held belief that many mature adults begin to struggle with insomnia as they age, leading them to be drowsy by day and prone to early bedtimes. But researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who studied a fairly large sample of 1,200 adults, found more than 75 percent of them normally get eight hours of sleep a night. The study group also slumbered between the normally expected hours of 11 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. While they may not be watching the Late Show with David Letterman, researchers suggest this is yet another positive sign of the impact healthy aging can have on overall life quality.
“Our findings suggest that in matters regarding sleep and sleepiness, as in many other aspects of life, most seniors today are doing better than is generally thought,” Timothy Monk, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says in a news release. “The stereotype of most seniors going to bed at 8 p.m., sleeping very lightly and being unduly sleepy during the day may be quite inaccurate, suggesting that 60 really is the new 40. The takeaway for older adults is that if you can keep yourself healthy and avoid or treat age-related diseases and disorders, then you’ll be able to sleep like a younger adult.”
Meanwhile, the researcher noted that adults with sleep disorders may have underlying medical issues which, with proper treatment, may have them resting easier (and longer) too.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13sleep" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13sleep</a> less

<h3>Senior Slumber</h3>
Put all those stereotypes about seniors crawling under the covers at dusk and puttering around the house drinking warm milk in the middle of the night to rest. Most members of the ... more

Photo: Angelogila | Dreamstime.com

Image 2 of 10

<h3>Protect Your Knees (In Moderation)</h3>
We’ve all heard the expression “everything in moderation.” And when it comes to protecting aging knees from painful, degenerative osteoarthritis, intriguing new research suggests too much or too little activity can play a role in wear and tear on the joint.
A new study found that both sedentary living and rigorous exercise can be culprits in the condition.
The researchers further suggested patients at high familial risk of developing osteoarthritis might want to refrain from high-impact activities (such as running and tennis) and instead stick with less pounding workouts such as swimming and walking. Conversely, the less fit may also want to get off the couch.
Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco based their findings after examining a group of middle-aged patients enrolled in its Osteoarthritis Initiative. After studying the MRIs of a large group of patients, they found the most wear in the knees of the most active and most sedentary of the bunch. While the active group makes sense — we all know that vigorous exercise can take a toll on the joints — the sedentary crowd was a bit of a surprise.
Some amount of movement is necessary to keep the knee properly lubricated, which may explain the relationship between low activity and wear, explains Dr. Thomas M. Link, one of the researchers and a professor of radiology at UCSF. The findings suggest there may be an optimal level of physical activity to preserve the knee cartilage.
The findings were presented in a press conference late last year at the Radiological Society of North America’s National Assembly and Meeting.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13knees" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13knees</a> less

<h3>Protect Your Knees (In Moderation)</h3>
We’ve all heard the expression “everything in moderation.” And when it comes to protecting aging knees from painful, degenerative osteoarthritis, intriguing ... more

Photo: Josefino | Dreamstime.com

Image 3 of 10

<h3>The Carotenoid Cure</h3>
Breast cancer prevention may begin at the farm stand and in the produce department. Researchers say they believe there’s proof that women with high levels of micronutrients that are plentiful in certain fruits and vegetables seem to have a reduced risk of breast cancer.
High levels of carotenoids, micronutrients found in tomatoes, spinach, kale, carrots, bell peppers and other fruits and vegetables, are associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to the study conducted by researchers at Boston’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The researchers analyzed the data in 12 other studies related to carotenoids and breast cancer to come to their conclusion, which was reported recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
These micronutrients appear to be particularly helpful in preventing breast cancers that are not estrogen dependent, the researchers note.
And besides this good news for anyone interested in lowering their breast cancer risk, researchers note there are plenty of other good-for-you reasons to pile your plate with fruits and veggies.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13veggies" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13veggies</a> less

<h3>The Carotenoid Cure</h3>
Breast cancer prevention may begin at the farm stand and in the produce department. Researchers say they believe there’s proof that women with high levels of micronutrients that ... more

Photo: (c) Scantynebula | Dreamstime.com

Image 4 of 10

<h3>Why It’s Smart To Quit</h3>
Yet another chapter in the mammoth and irrefutable body of evidence on the harms of smoking comes from new research on the relationship between expectant mothers’ cigarette habits and the academic success of their offspring. Yale University researchers have found a demonstrative gap between the reading abilities in the children of women who smoked during their pregnancies and the children of women who refrained from the unhealthy habit.
The Yale researchers found that the children of a large sampling of British women who smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day during pregnancy struggled with reading comprehension on assessment tests that evaluated their skills as they read aloud.
The researchers say the study suggests a strong relationship between the environmental impacts of smoking on the genetic trait of phonological ability.
“It’s not a little difference — it’s a big difference in accuracy and comprehension at a critical time when children are being assessed and are getting a sense of what it means to be successful,” Dr. Jeffrey Gruen, a professor of genetics and pediatrics at Yale says in a university news release.
The findings were published recently in the journal Pediatrics.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13smokes" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13smokes</a> less

<h3>Why It’s Smart To Quit</h3>
Yet another chapter in the mammoth and irrefutable body of evidence on the harms of smoking comes from new research on the relationship between expectant mothers’ cigarette ... more

Photo: Sam74100 | Dreamstime.com

Image 5 of 10

Image 6 of 10

<h3>Cell Phone Addicts</h3>
Do your friends and family complain about your constant attention to your iPhone apps, or nonstop jabbering on your cell? Well, it turns out you may have an addiction to communication technology, a dependency that researchers suggest is attributed to, ahem, flashy materialism and a need to project self-importance.
Researchers at Baylor and Seton Hall universities collaborated on a recent study that looked at the impulsive technology habits of a large sampling of college students. They analyzed data that looked at how much they used their phones (to chat, check texts or send e-mail, etc.) and found the students who rated themselves the most impulsive and materialistic on a self-assessment of personality traits were the same students who used their phones most. (Indeed, these self-inflated types used their phones a lot more.)
The study was reported recently in the Journal of Behavioral Addiction.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13phone" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13phone</a> less

<h3>Cell Phone Addicts</h3>
Do your friends and family complain about your constant attention to your iPhone apps, or nonstop jabbering on your cell? Well, it turns out you may have an addiction to ... more

Photo: Imageegami | Dreamstime.com

Image 7 of 10

<h3>The Cognitive Cure</h3>
Antidepressants are not a cure-all for every person suffering from a mood disorder. And now a new study out of Britain suggests that when prescription medications fail to alleviate a patient’s symptoms, intensive cognitive therapy may prove extremely beneficial.
Participating in 12 to 18 cognitive therapy sessions — a method of therapy where patients take responsibility for their emotions and focus on changing their attitude — more than doubled the diminishment of depressive symptoms than patients taking antidepressants alone, researchers note.
The study, which was recently reported in the British medical journal The Lancet, looked at a large group of depressed adults to see how they responded to a variety of treatment options.
Cognitive therapy is also different from traditional talk therapy, where patients often reflect how they are feeling about certain experiences and situations.
People receiving cognitive therapy were also more likely not to have their depressive symptoms return, noted the researchers, who suggested this may be an excellent option for depressed individuals and clinicians seeking long-term results for their patients.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13depressed " target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13depressed </a> less

<h3>The Cognitive Cure</h3>
Antidepressants are not a cure-all for every person suffering from a mood disorder. And now a new study out of Britain suggests that when prescription medications fail to alleviate ... more

Image 8 of 10

<h3>Mood Altering Beverages</h3>
The debate on the merits of artificially-sweetened sodas has, until now, centered largely on whether they are a dieter’s friend or foe. But a new study suggests there may be yet another reason to avoid them, particularly as we advance in age. Heavy diet-soda drinkers seem to have higher rates of depression than those who go without. Meanwhile, coffee may actually be a mood enhancer.
Research released at the recent American College of Neurology’s annual convention revealed higher rates of depression in seniors who were heavy diet-soda drinkers and significantly lower rates in java fans. The study, which was a fairly comprehensive look at the beverage consumption of more than a quarter-million middle-aged Americans and seniors ages 50 to 71, studied their non-alcoholic drinking habits for more than a year.
The researchers found that people who drank four or more diet beverages a day were 30 percent more likely than their abstaining counterparts to suffer from depression, while coffee drinkers were 10 percent more likely to not suffer from depression than their coffee abstaining peers.
“Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk,” says study author Dr. Honglei Chen, of the National Institutes of Health in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. “More research is needed to confirm these findings, and people with depression should continue to take depression medications prescribed by their doctors.”
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13dietsoda" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13dietsoda</a> less

<h3>Mood Altering Beverages</h3>
The debate on the merits of artificially-sweetened sodas has, until now, centered largely on whether they are a dieter’s friend or foe. But a new study suggests there may be ... more

Photo: Adolfolazo | Dreamstime.com

Image 9 of 10

<h3>Danger Seats</h3>
More than 35 years after toxic, flame-retardant chemicals were banned from children’s sleepwear, researchers have found they are still prevalent in the couches of many an American living room.
In fact, researchers at Duke University and the University of California at Berkeley say they found the chlorinated carcinogenic flame retardant chemical Tris (TDCPP) in some 41 percent of the couches they analyzed as part of their research. Overall, some 85 percent of the couches they examined contained traces of chemical flame retardants that were known to be toxic or to have suspect health effects.
“Sadly enough, many Americans now have increased cancer risks from the Tris in their furniture,” Dr. Arlene Blum, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, says in a UCBerkeley press release.
The chemicals can move from foam into household dust, affecting pets and making small children, who often crawl and put their hands in their mouths, especially vulnerable, researchers say.
Meanwhile, furniture industry representatives responded that their industry has been caught between pressure to make products that are flame-retardant as well as free of toxins.
The researchers’ findings were reported recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
source:<a href=http://"tinyurl.com/march13couches" target="_blank>tinyurl.com/march13couches</a> less

<h3>Danger Seats</h3>
More than 35 years after toxic, flame-retardant chemicals were banned from children’s sleepwear, researchers have found they are still prevalent in the couches of many an American ... more

Photo: Kettaphoto | Dreamstime.com

Image 10 of 10

News and views March 2013

1 / 10

Back to Gallery

Cut the Fat

Back in the ’90s the vogue diet-of-the-moment involved zealously counting fat grams to stay slim. The craze resulted in a plethora of low-fat and fat-free foods we now see on supermarket shelves. Eventually, though, dieters were drawn to new crazes, including cutting carbohydrates and binging on lean protein. Fat became less of a dirty diet word.

Now, researchers in Britain have taken a second look at cutting dietary fat and concluded, once again, it’s a relatively simple way to lose weight, cut cholesterol and improve a person’s overall health profile. Indeed, when researchers looked at a large sampling of men, women and children who were asked to cut back on their fat intake (but not otherwise diet or restrict calories) the group lost weight, lowered BMI and also slightly reduced waist circumference. The researchers, who reported their findings recently in the journal BMJ, suggest that consuming low-fat dairy products, trimming fat from meat and avoiding processed, junky baked goods could all play a role in helping maintain a healthy weight.

And consider how beneficial these cut-the-fat changes might be if you just have a few stubborn pounds to lose.

Two new studies that look closely at the brains of adult men with autism are lending more credence to the theory that skyrocketing rates of the developmental disorder are related to some kind of immunological neurological response.

Scientists used MRI and PET scans to study the brains of men with the neurological disorder that is characterized by challenges with social interaction, relationships and communication, as well as repetitive behavioral patterns and interests. British researchers found different cortical thickness in the frontal lobes of brains with autistic men; while the Japanese researchers found evidence that the brains of its autistic subjects had suffered some kind of injury from an immunological response or stimulus.

Both sets of researchers say their findings prompt the need for more detailed examination of the possible links with the syndrome, which is now considered a global health epidemic.

The findings of both research teams were reported recently in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

It may sound a bit like nutritional sacrilege to many a vitamin-popping American, but a new study suggests as a culture we’ve overdosed on nutritional supplements. Indeed, Emory University researcher Donald P. McCormick implies in his new study that the majority of people could eliminate their need for vitamins by just eating a healthier diet. He also disagrees with some recent research, which suggests older adults need to take two multivitamins a day to meet their nutritional needs.

McCormick analyzed 12 current studies on vitamin deficiencies in older adults and, with a few exceptions, found taking supplements is unnecessary. For example, he notes most seniors don’t need to take extra vitamins unless they have medical issues that affect how they absorb, metabolize or swallow food. The findings were reported recently in the journal Advances in Nutrition.